Hard Luck Bar

What do you do when your fans can’t get their hands on a reasonably priced copy of your classic album without paying shipping costs to the Russian Federation? Well, if you’re The Skull, an outfit featuring Trouble’s former frontman Eric Wagner and bassist Ron Holzner, who both played on said record, you bring the self-titled album to them.

Fast-forward a couple years, and they’re playing a proper venue with proper touring support in support of a somewhat low-key record. But I’ll be damned if that wasn’t the biggest crowd I’ve even seen at the Hard Luck, dude!

As for Weedeater, I don’t think they’ve played here in about five years, and it seems their legend has grown since the last time I’ve seen ’em. There were all sorts of bearded weirdos in attendance that I’ve never seen before–and the crazy crowd made for a rather raucous performance!

I’m not sure there’s been a better week for female-fronted doom in this city than the forthcoming seven days. Between tour stops by Royal Thunder, Witch Mountain and Castle and a headlining gig by Toronto’s own Blood Ceremony, ’tis a trippy time for those who like tritones and plaintive female vocal-tones, indeed!

As an introduction to the band, the two tracks are an intense six minutes. In that short time, Harangue demonstrate a multi-faceted approach to their songcraft. Abrupt yet timely transitions from hardcore chug to frenetic freakout riffs or absolute slamming breakdowns betrays any notions of this outfit being a one-trick pony.

“I’ve been looking forward to enjoying another love set by UnexpecT since I saw them play at Sneaky Dee’s last year, and they delivered on all of my very high expectations. The experimental French Canadian band are the very embodiment of an avant-garde aesthetic combined with a dauntless independent spirit.”

Sundays are somewhat of a strange day for a metal gig. Typically, it’s when you wind down from the weekend and get ready for the work week ahead. And wouldn’t you know it, there’s another gig this Sunday, as desert rockers Totimoshi take their strange sounds to Toronto on their tour for their latest, Avenger.